not much to ask

Whenever the issue of Asylum Seekers comes up in Australia and the various 'solutions' are presented to the public, I am reminded of the words of Minister for Trade and Customs, T.W. White;

'It will no doubt be appreciated also that as we have no racial problem, we are not desirous of importing one'

He said this in 1938 when 22 nations of the Western world convened to discuss what to do with Jewish Refugees.

There is little that is more honourable than living the moral conviction of saving the lives of others. And yet when people arrive on our shores we feel comfortable to collectively turn our backs on them.

I think as Australians we need to remember the second verse of our National Anthem and the lines;

'For those who've come across the seas

We've boundless plains to share;

With courage let us all combine

To Advance Australia Fair'

Because of the nature of our privileged lives I think it can be difficult to imagine what it means to HAVE to leave your country. We privileged few, with our interconnected and often comfortable lives, cannot fathom being forced to leave your family, not knowing what fate awaits them because of your departure, or if you will ever see them again.

Our international travels, our rough nights in seedy hostels, our vomit-inducing bus trips through windy hills in foreign lands give us no insight into the plight of someone who has fled in the night.

Our "difficult" choices of where our kids should study, where to have breakfast with friends, what job to take are so petty and small in comparison to the choice between fleeing and dying.

It is so easy. No one is asking you to experience these things; no one is asking for you to even imagine them.

All that is being asked of you is for a modicum of respect and assistance for those that have left bloodshed and persecution; to display compassion towards those for whom death at sea in a rickety boat is preferable to the places they have come from.